Actor Julian Shaw says the creators of the popular It's Time marriage equality ad decided to focus on the love story rather than discrimination and they've been "blown away by the response," during an interview with Australia's Ten News.

The video ad, told from a first-person perspective, has captivated much of the English-speaking world and been seen by more than 3 million viewers to date. Shaw says he teared up when he read the treatment for the ad. "I didn't think in terms of heterosexuality or homosexuality, I just thought this was a beautiful love story," he says. "Quite frankly it's an actor's dream role to be able to convey a whole relationship with all these beautiful pungent moments in two minutes."

Over the weekend the ruling Labor party in Australia changed its platform to support marriage equality, although a conscience vote on same-sex marriage in the near term is not expected to pass parliament.